Cell: (510) 333-6153
Email: shoulihan@berkeley.edu
Twitter: @ShaLayla
Shayla Houlihan is in her seventh season as a member of the California cross country and track & field staffs in 2018-19. She is also in her third season as the head cross country coach after being named to the position on April 28, 2016.
Prior to being named cross country head coach, Houlihan had been promoted two other times, taking on the role of associate head coach for the 2014 season and being appointed as Cal's assistant head coach for the 2013 season. Houlihan, who joined the Cal staff in July 2012 works primarily with the Golden Bears’ distance runners during the track & field season.
Houlihan has sent men's and women's runners to the NCAA Cross Country Championship in both 2016 and 2017. The women's team had one of their best seasons in 2017 as they earned a berth at the NCAA Championship and had their fourth-best finish in school history. It was the first time in six years that the women's team has earned a spot at the NCAA Championship. Houlihan also coached Bethan Knights and Brie Oakley to USTFCCCA All-American honors as Oakley also won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
Garrett Corcoran reached the NCAA Championship during the 2018 season as he became the first student-athlete at Cal to reach the NCAA Cross Country Championship in four straight seasons. Her first year in charge of the cross country program in 2016 saw Houlihan lead the men's team to a 31st place finish at the NCAA Championship.
Prior to the 2018 cross country season, Houlihan was appointed to the USTFCCCA Executive Committee as the women's representative for the West Region.
Houlihan also coached Bethan Knights to All-American honors during the 2018 track & field season as Knights took 12th in the 5000m at the NCAA Indoor Championship. Knights also claimed two third-place finishes at the Pac-12 Championship as she earned bronze in the 10,000m in 2017 and 5,000m in 2016. After competing in the steeplechase, Houlihan helped Takeshi Okada take third place in the event at the 2018 Pac-12 Championship and guided Annie Boos to the freshman record. Houlihan also helped Trent Brendel to a second-place finish in the 10,000m and Thomas Joyce to a bronze medal at the 2017 Pac-12 Championship. She guided the quartet of Sydney Gray, Jackie Chandler, Rebecca Croft and Knights to the MPSF Championship in the distance medley relay in 2016.
Houlihan had a hand in helping Kelsey Santisteban to an All-American finish during the 2013 cross country season as she took 10th at the NCAA Championship after recording a third place finish at the Pac-12 Championship. Santisteban also recorded three individual wins during the campaign including the Pre-National Invitational. Chris Walden earned All-American honors during the 2014 cross country season as he took 17th at the NCAA Championship. Overall, Houlihan has helped her student-athletes to five cross country All-American honors.
Between the men's and women's teams, Houlihan's runners have notched 22 performances that rank amongst the school's all-time top 10 during outdoor season and 28 that are in the top-10 on the school's indoor list.
A record-setter in the 3000-meter steeplechase as a collegian at Northern Iowa and Utah, Houlihan continued to race after graduation and ended her professional career after a 22nd-place finish in the steeple at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2012. She owns a PR of 9:51.26 in the event from 2011 and was ranked seventh in the country in the steeplechase by Track & Field News in 2010.
Houlihan initially attended Northern Iowa, graduating in 2007 with a degree in physical education and a minor in coaching. She then enrolled at Utah and competed as a master's candidate in health promotion and education. During the 2008 season, she established the Utah record in the steeplechase (10:43.60) and finished fourth in the event, as well as eighth in the 1500 meters, at the Mountain West Conference championships. She was named to the MWC and coaches' association all-academic teams.
Houlihan remained at Utah as a volunteer assistant coach through the 2010 season, working with the Utes' distance and cross country runners, including MWC 1500-meter champion and NCAA cross country qualifier Alyssa Abbott.
Houlihan then worked as an assistant coach for Team Run Flagstaff in Arizona from 2010-12, planning, coordinating and supervising weekly workouts for 170 members. She also competed professionally for Brooks in the steeplechase and was a two-time participant in the USA indoor and outdoor championships, as well as the Olympic Trials.
